Gentry: This and that from here and there

A change purse the author received thanks to the kindness of reader Tom Richter.(Photo: Jeffrey Gentry/The News Journal)

While driving to Dover recently to donate some money to Dover Downs – I'm doing all I can to keep those guys afloat – I went around a car using the change machine at the toll booth at Exit 104/North Dover.

You may be thinking to yourself, "You poor sap. Why don't you have E-ZPass?" Well, I just don't.

Anyway, I'd probably still be sitting there now if I didn't go around the car. I've never seen anyone use those change machines at the toll booths without having to stick the bill in six, seven or eight times before it finally accepts it. I've even given the toll money to someone before – back before I became too impatient to wait.

My question – was it legal that I did that? Legal that I went around that car? Too late now, I guess, but it would be good to know for the next time.

In a column last week, I wrote about a little plastic oval change purse my Granddaddy used to carry. That column prompted a number of responses from you about your fathers and grandfathers and husbands and how they used them. It also prompted a rather unexpected addition to my desk. The day the column ran in the paper, I received one of those exact change purses thanks to the kindness of reader Tom Richter. Mr. Richter brought a new one he had to The News Journal and left it for me. It's here on my desk now holding change for the soda machine. Thank you, Mr. Richter.

Dear Krispy Kreme: Do you have a spotter positioned to watch for me as I drive to work in the mornings so you know when to turn your hot sign on? Cruel, cruel, cruel. Sincerely, Jeffrey.

And finally, I am still receiving emails, cards and letters expressing sympathy for the loss of Toby the Jack Russell. I have no words that can truly express how much those have meant and how much we appreciate them. Thank you.